


Smudges

by Freckles_From_Brooklyn



Series: Preemptive Fix-it Fics because god knows we're gonna need it [55]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Mechanisms!Jon, Post canon, Preemptive Fix-It, there's some s1 stuff in there too tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 10:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30138318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freckles_From_Brooklyn/pseuds/Freckles_From_Brooklyn
Summary: Jon comes into work with smudged eyeliner one day, and Martin just about dies.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Preemptive Fix-it Fics because god knows we're gonna need it [55]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132277
Comments: 6
Kudos: 95





	Smudges

Martin didn’t like living in the Archives. Sure, it was better than the alternatives, like being trapped in his flat, but the accommodations at the Magnus Institute were hardly luxurious. Martin sat up in bed, groaning. He hated having to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. The Magnus Institute was creepy in the dark, and no matter how many layers of socks he put on, the cold from the marble floors of the corridors always leeched into his feet, chilling him to the bone. Martin tucked the corkscrew he kept next to him into his pocket, fruitlessly pulled on his thickest pair of socks, and got up. As he shuffled out of document storage, his phone flashlight held aloft in front of him, he heard the heavy door to the archives creak open. Martin quickly turned his flashlight off, fumbling for his corkscrew. Against his better judgment, he slowly crept towards the door, hiding behind a shelf full of statements. As the figure turned on the lamp on Tim’s desk, Martin was able to get a better look at them. It was Jon. The Archivist was dressed in a rather strange ensemble, a brown vest over black pants and a white shirt, and several belts over that, but it was still undoubtedly Jon. 

“Jon?” Martin hissed. “What are you doing here?!” Jon jumped, startled, and turned to face his assistant. 

“Christ, Martin, don’t  _ do _ that!” he scolded, and in the low light, Martin could see that he had some sort of makeup on, black tendrils branching off from around his eyes. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Martin apologized hurriedly. “Can you blame me, though? I mean-- you started it! How did you expect to come in here and  _ not _ freak me out!”

“I  _ thought _ you’d be asleep,” Jon replied. “What are you doing up?”

“I had to take a piss,” Martin said. “What are you doing here?”

“I forgot my coat when I left this afternoon,” Jon explained. “Wanted to swing by and get it. It’s bloody freezing out there.”

“Uh-huh,” Martin said. “And what does…  _ this _ have to do with that?” he gestured at Jon’s outfit. 

“That’s none of your concern, Martin,” Jon replied curtly. “Get some sleep.”

The next thing that Martin knew, he was waking up to his alarm blaring in his ear. He rubbed his eyes. His dreams about Jon were often rather odd, but he hadn’t realized his fantasies regarding his boss were so… piratical. Martin sighed and sat up, getting ready for the day. He was already sitting at his desk working on some follow-up research for a statement when Jon came in. 

“Good morning, Martin,” Jon said. 

“Good—” Martin’s greeting caught in his throat as he looked up at his boss. There were smudges of eyeliner all around Jon’s eyes, making him ten times more attractive than he usually was. Jon raised an eyebrow at him, and Martin almost died on the spot. 

“Is everything alright, Martin?” Jon asked. 

“Yep!” Martin squeaked. His throat felt tight, and he was sure his voice was an octave higher than usual. “Yep, everything’s fine! Great, even!” Jon looked like he didn’t quite believe Martin, but he didn’t press it. 

“Well, I’ll be in my office if you need me,” he said. 

“Right,” Martin managed. “R-right, I’ll… uh… I’ll be here.”

“Martin, why do I find Jon attractive right now?” Martin choked on his tea as Tim clapped him on the shoulder. 

“I’m sorry,  _ what _ ?” he spluttered. 

“Jon looks hot today,” Tim declared. “And I can’t figure out why.”

“So why are you asking  _ me _ ?” Martin asked. 

“Well, you spend all day pining over him, so I figured if anyone in here could tell me why he looks hot, it’d be you.”

“Excuse me, I do not  _ pine _ ,” Martin said indignantly. 

“Yes you do,” Sasha said. 

“Shut up, Sasha, this isn’t about you,” Martin retorted. 

“So what is it?” Tim asked. 

“What is what?” Martin said. 

“Why does Jon look hot today?” Tim said. Martin swallowed. 

“It’s— um— it’s the eyeliner,” He said. “He’s… uh… got smudges and it looks really,  _ really _ good on him.”

“Oh yeah, I did notice that,” Sasha mused. “Reckon I should go tell him so he can wash it off properly?”

“No!” Tim and Martin both cried at the same time. 

“Sasha, please,” Martin begged. 

“Yeah, just because I’ve never found him attractive before doesn’t mean I’m  _ complaining _ about it,” Tim added. Sasha just chuckled. 

“God, you two are disasters,” she said. 

Martin waited outside the dressing room, nodding at his bandmates and mumbling compliments as they left. Jon’s band, the Mechanisms, had broken up shortly before the apocalypse, but after things had been returned to normal, they had made the decision to get back together and were now doing shows about once a month. Martin went to every single show. He’d loved watching the Mechanisms before they’d broken up, and he loved them even more now that he and Jon were together. Jon came out of the dressing room in his normal clothes, his hair still loose from the performance. He’d apparently done a rather hasty job of taking his makeup off, as there were still smudges of eyeliner on his face. Martin leaned down and kissed him. Jon kissed back. 

“How’d you like the performance, darling?” He asked. 

“It was amazing, as always,” Martin replied. “I love you. And I love this look on you.” Jon frowned, confused. 

“What look?” He asked. 

“You’ve got some eyeliner smudges,” Martin informed him. 

“Oh!” Jon said. “I’d better go wipe those off.” He turned back towards the dressing room, but Martin grabbed his wrist. 

“Don’t you dare,” He said. “You look hot like this.”

“Do I?” Jon asked.

“Very,” Martin replied. “Do you happen to remember that one time when you came into the archives in the middle of the night because you forgot your coat, and we scared the shit out of each other?”

“Vaguely, yes,” Jon said. “What does that have to do with this?”

“Well, the next day you came in with eyeliner smudges, and I just about died,” Martin said.

“You all let me walk around with smudged eyeliner all day and didn’t think to tell me?” Jon demanded indignantly. 

“Sasha wanted to,” Martin said. “But I wouldn’t let her. Tim wouldn’t either, if I’m remembering correctly. He was quite flustered as well.”  
“Now that you mention it, I do remember him not being as witty that day,” Jon mused. 

“Mmmhmm,” Martin agreed. “But now I’ve got you all to myself, and I’m never going to let you go.” Jon smiled. 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he said. 


End file.
